Good burn. Great taste. Just what you'd expect from a retired Chicago firefighter turned cigar maker. Aric Bey is a model on how to pivot if early retirement derails your career. The Black boutique cigar brand founder sits down with Boveda's Rob Gagner to talk about the Black Star Line Cigars' blends. The brand name is a fist up to civil rights leader, Marcus Garvey.

You might remember that Black Star Line and Epic Cigars teamed up on the Black History Month Cigar, a limited-edition scholarship cigar for Privada Cigar Club. Learn how to round out your cigar palate and pair cigars and spirits from the BIPOC cigar brand owner.

About Boveda for Cigars: Boveda are those brown 2-way humidity packs you put in a humidor to preserve cigars. When you own a humidor, you need to make sure the cigars inside stay well-humidified or they can be hard to light, burn to too fast or get moldy. With Boveda in your humidor, you'll get better flavor from a cigar. Boveda has been keeping cigars tasting great for more than 25 years. Perfectly aged cigars. Guaranteed.

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00:00 Cold open

01:28 Black Star Line Cigars and Marcus Garvey, leader of the Pan-Africanism movement

03:15 Retired firefighter cigar brand

06:17 Everybody wants to go home—the mission of a firefighter

07:05 Who are you after early retirement?

11:03 Get a degree that will earn you more money

17:04 Saving lives with a cigar

20:58 Growing a boutique cigar brand

22:39 Whiskey pairing for the Black Star Line El Milagro Corojo

23:44 Pairing cigars with spirits

24:10 A good gin that goes with cigars

26:00 How to build your cigar palate

27:48 How to taste cigar flavor better

33:00 What does the number mean after a tobacco name?

38:29 What Black Star Line Cigars to try

- There's a story inside every smoke shop

with every cigar and with every person.

Come be a part of the cigar lifestyle of Boveda.

This is Box Press.

(accordion music)

(drop bass mashup house music)

- Welcome to another episode of Box Press.

I'm your host, Rob Gagner.

We are at the 2022 PCA Trade Show.

There is music going on, there are people around.

We are back at it, folks.

It feels so good to be here.

Aric, this is your first year here.

Thank you so much for sitting down and joining me.

- Thanks for having me.

I really appreciate it.

- So last year you came, but you just walked the show floor.

- Yeah, I just wanted to get a feel of how it was.

- But now, having a booth,

does it feel different?

- Yeah, I mean, it's similar to TPE,

it's just TPE on steroids, you know.

I was just telling some people that were already came by

I was like, you know, in the first two hours

of being here, I think I've already sold more

than I did the whole time at TPE, so.

- Wow. - Yeah.

Like, we- - And we literally

just opened today. - Yeah.

- Like, three hours ago.

(Rob laughing) - Oh, yeah.

Yeah, bro.

So, I was like if this is how the rest of the,

if this is indicative of how the rest

of the show is gonna be, are we gonna sell everything?

- That's awesome.

- Yeah.

- So if you sell everything,

are you gonna keep taking orders?

- Well, we probably have to to get the back-orders in,

so people will get in line for the next run.

- You gotta know the demand.

- Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. - You're on high demand.

Black Star Line, why the name Black Star Line?

- So Black Star Line is Marcus Garvey's shipping company.

So his idea was to ship people and goods back to Africa.

So, he was buying dilapidated ships

so he couldn't make it that far.

So he only made it to the islands, like Bahamas,

Turks and Caicos, that type of thing.

So I just wanted to pay homage to him

because a lot of people know about like,

Martin Luther King or Malcolm X.

A lot of people don't know who Marcus Garvey is.

So I decided to pay homage to him.

And I'm really huge on history and ancestors

because if it wasn't for the people

that came before us, none of us would be here.

- Exactly.

- So I'm just trying to keep names alive.

- And don't you have like, six masters

in all sorts of different areas?

(Aric and Rob laughing)

- I have an MBA in finance.

I have a Masters in public health

and I'm halfway through law school.

- Okay, so of all those, which one is the hardest schooling?

- Law school.

- Law school?

- Yeah, - Why?

- It's very steady, intensive.

A lot of reading, a lotta, lotta time reading

and understanding the law, interpreting the law.

So yeah, it's very time consuming.

- I think that's sometimes just bullshit

because you guys just need to rack up that bill.

And you're like, "No, no, it takes a long time,

"I swear, I'm still digging through some files."

Nah, I'm just kidding.

- I mean, that's some peoples' hustle, though.

- You have to, not only do you have to understand the law,

then you have to go out and comb through cases

that might help your stance.

- Yeah, you look for other cases

that support what you're trying to do.

- And you're learning right now how to probably do all that.

- I'm not going back to law school.

I was halfway through.

To be honest with you, I don't have

the attention span anymore.

- So you're kinda, you're not gonna finish law school?

- Nah, I'm done.

(Rob chuckles) - Really?

- Yeah, I've had it.

- When did you make this decision?

- When I went to Fire Academy.

That's the reason why I left law school,

I went to the Fire Academy.

I'm a retired Chicago firefighter, so.

- Oh, so that was a long time ago?

- Well, I started firefighter at 37, I'm 45 now.

- Okay. - Yeah, I got injured

on the job and that's why I'm not a firefighter,

a firefighter anymore.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah, my labrum was torn really bad in my hip

and I actually had to go through four different doctors

just to find one that was confident enough to repair it.

- How did you tear the ligament?

- I was extricating a kid out of a car.

And when I popped the door open, I slipped

and one leg went one way and one went the other.

- Was it in the winter time, is that why you slipped?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Welcome to Chicago, right?

- Yeah, and I heard a pop and then the next thing I knew

I had to get in an ambulance.

- So now there's two people that need help.

It's you and, or did you just like get back up

and go back to doing your job?

- I got back up.

But you know, I wasn't...

We already got the kid out, so once I popped the door

and then I popped by back, because I herniated a disc

in my lower back at the same time.

- Aw, of the disjointment?

- Yeah, it was bad, bro.

Yeah, it was bad.

- So all the hard work that goes into being a firefighter

and then to have one flash second

that takes all of that away.

- Yeah.

- Was there a little bit of grieving that you went through

when you couldn't come back to the job?

- I'm always grieving.

I miss my guys, because that's-

- You still grieving it?

- Yeah, you know, at the firehouse, we're family.

It's like we're goin' to war together.

And I've been to a lotta fires, so you know, I miss my guys.

I miss, you know, we talk about each other

all the time in the firehouse.

We sitting in the kitchen smoking cigars

while we're cooking and watching TV.

You know, that was our pastime in the firehouse.

- Would you live at the firehouse?

- Yeah, we stayed there for 24 hours.

- Oh, when you're on call, you're there?

- Yeah, yeah, it's 24 hours on, 48 off.

It's only working 85 days a year.

- Oh, wow. - Yeah.

- I know nothing about firefighters and their schedule.

I'm sure it's all different all across the nation.

- Yeah, it depends on where you are.

- Okay. - You know.

- So, that was a little bit of a grieving process

but you still keep in touch with those guys.

- Of course.

Yeah, they're family.

They want me to come back, but physically,

I don't think I could do it.

- Right. - Because, you know,

I'm able to work out some,

but I can't put 100 pounds worth of equipment on

and go be on somebody's roof in the middle

of the winter cutting a hole in their roof at night.

Physically, I don't think I can handle it.

It's a young person's job and I'm gonna let

the younger guys come in.

Because being a firefighter in Chicago is

like hitting the lottery.

When they have the test for Chicago Fire Department,

literally thousands of people come out

and take that test from all over the nation.

Because you're working 85 days a year,

you make six figures, so.

- Wow. - Yeah.

They literally say it's like if you get the job.

- It's hard work, though.

- Yeah, it's like hitting the lottery.

But yeah, yeah, when we're not working it's not hard,

but when we go to work, oh, we're goin' to work.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- That's why there's probably that united front,

you know, like military or anything,

it's like you have somebody's back and you're looking out

for them, they're looking out for you.

And you have a mission.

- Yep, everybody wants to go home, that's the mission.

- Right. - Mm-hm.

- Were there every any moments

where somebody didn't go home that you were close to?

- Yeah, there's been firefighters that drowned.

They're on the SCUBA team, they drowned.

I've known firefighters to fall through roofs and die.

I've known some that fell off the roof and died.

So yeah, yeah.

- Wow. - It's tough, bro.

- Yeah.

Well thank you for being a firefighter.

I mean, not everyone, like you said,

not everyone can do all that physical labor.

Then the emotional part of it, you know,

so there's a lot there.

- Yeah.

- I'm glad that you, you know,

you still stay connected with those guys

because how much of like, your identity is wrapped,

like, you're releasing your own cigar line.

Your identity is so interwoven into this cigar brand.

But the same thing could be said for a job

like being a firefighter, or anything like that.

So when you lose that identity, when you couldn't be

a firefighter anymore, what did you turn to

to regain some identity?

- Well, you know, being a firefighter,

like, we already discussed this, there's a lot

of hard work and being thorough about what you're doing.

So all I did was took all those principles

that I learned from being a firefighter

and I put it right into cigars.

So I put all my intensive work into the cigars,

into the leaf, into the blends that I do,

traveling around doing the events that I do.

So I just make sure I keep using the skills I learned.

- What made you think of pivoting from being a firefighter,

because there's that break period, right?

- Mm-hm.

- Okay, I'm a firefighter.

Now I have to go out and recreate an identity in cigars.

What made you think, "Oh, yeah, I can take that on,"

because that's no small feat, man?

You're still working that.

You're still going.

- Oh, yeah.

Well, I mean, I actually started the line

while I was still a firefighter, so.

- Okay, so you had already-

- Yeah, I had already started it.

- Launched the line.

- Yeah, yeah.

And I got hurt and then...

- But still, you have a dual identity then.

You're a firefighter and you're trying

to do your cigar thing.

- Mm-hm, mm-hm.

- So once it become, once you got injured,

you felt like the transition was easy.

And you're like okay, and now I can focus

all my time on cigars.

- Yeah, because I wasn't going to work.

I was just going to doctors appointments.

And then once I had my surgery,

I had to relearn how to walk.

- Oh my God.

- Yeah, because I was off of my feet for a long time.

And it was right during COVID.

So the cigar line was going crazy online

because during COVID, everybody was

at home smoking and drinking.

So luckily, my wife, she took over all the shipping for me.

And it was like crazy packages going out,

at least 20 packages a day of cigars goin' out a day.

And she literally packaged them all up, put the addresses

on all of them every day.

- Did she have a full-time job, too?

- Yeah, mm-hm, yeah. She's a recruiter.

- So she's doing a full-time job, then she's

running fulfillment for Black Star Line.

- Yeah.

- And you're trying to recover.

- Yeah, and I'm laying on the couch looking like a fool.

(Aric laughing) - And how many kids

do you have? (Aric laughing)

- Two, my son is 24 and then my daughter's 8.

- Oh, okay, so a little, they're a little more independent.

- Yeah. - So you don't have

like, you know, to manage the house from that level.

But still, that's a lot.

- Mm-hm, mm-hm.

- So during that time period, were there conflicts

that happened between you and your wife

that you're like, "This is only due to the added stress"

and how did you work around them?

- No, no conflicts because I'm not a fool.

You know, she's doin' all my work,

oh, I'm gonna be quiet as a church mouse.

- Yeah, right. - Because she could

easily say, "Oh, I'm shipping any of this out."

(Rob laughing) - Yeah, right.

- So I needed her to do the work

so I kept my mouth shut and I'm gonna let her do her thing.

She did a great job.

- And help out where you can.

- Right, now when I was able to get up and walk

she sure stopped doing it, and let me do it.

(Rob laughing) - You're back.

- Right, yep.

But when she knew, because I started walking earlier

than when I was supposed to.

Like, I wouldn't take my crutches,

I was being real hard-headed.

But when she knew I was able to limp myself

to my man cave, so I can go out and smoke, she was like,

"Oh, yeah, you gonna do some work now.

"If you can walk out there to smoke,

"oh, yeah, you're gonna package some packages."

- If you can walk to smoke, you're workin'.

I love it. - Mm-hm.

- She knew that was the indicator, here you go.

- Oh, yeah.

- And the motivation I'm sure for you was like,

"I gotta get out there."

How long did you go without a cigar, by the way?

- Woo, a month and a half maybe.

- Sure. - It was tough.

But, you know, I had to make sure I was able to walk.

Because I knew if I fell or something, you know,

it was gonna be bad, so I was real careful about it.

- Take the time to do it right the first time.

- Mm-hm. - I hate doin' stuff

twice, so. - Yeah.

- Just do it right the first time.

- Yeah, because I do not want another surgery on my hip.

- No. - So, mm-hm.

- Well with all that education, looking back on it now,

and you have kids, is there anything

that you would tell somebody who's thinking

about going into advanced education

what's kind of like the Aric rule book

of you should definitely do these top things

if you're planning on doing some advanced education?

- Well, I guess the best advice I will give is get a degree

that's actually gonna earn you some more money, you know,

because some people take degrees

and they just do nothing with them.

- So pick one that has a good return on investment.

That's kinda what you're saying, right?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Don't go an be a crazy philosopher

that you can't find a job for, right?

- Right, right.

- Let's think about this.

Why are we going to school?

To make money so that we can be successful.

- Yeah, and whatever you pick has got to boost your income

in some form or fashion.

Like my MBA in finance, when I got that,

I was actually a licensed banker for Chase.

So I had a Series 6 and 63 in life insurance, right?

Licenses.

And I got the MBA in finance and I wanted to go

into the investment bank, but Chase told me

that my degree, my advanced degree didn't mean anything.

And I was like, "Oh, it means a lot,

"It means I'm gonna go get a different job."

(Rob laughing)

That's when I became a-

- It might not mean anything to you, but over here it does.

- But Eli Lilly found a use for it and that's when I went

and became a pharmaceutical sales rep.

- Oh, nice. - Yeah, yeah.

I've had some good jobs over my lifespan.

- Did you like doing pharmaceutical sales?

- Oh, it was great, bro.

- Really? - I only worked

three hours a day.

- Three hours a day?

- Yeah, I'd go flirt with the nurses

and I was in the diabetes division, so I was one

of the top sales rep in the division.

Like, I won trips to Miami and stuff like that.

Oh, it was great.

It was just they transferred me to osteoporosis

and then I had to switch to a totally different territory.

And I didn't like the territory, I didn't like the medicines

I was selling, I wasn't passionate about it.

And then that's when I decided to go to law school.

- Okay. - Mm-hm.

- And then from there, you didn't finish

because you went into fire school.

- Yeah. - What even drew you

into Fire Academy?

- My father encouraged me to take the test.

So, but it had been so long since I had taken the test

I actually forgot I took it.

- Was he a firefighter?

- No, my dad was a educator.

He retired as a principal of a high school.

- So then why was he tellin' you to take the test?

- He knew it was a great job.

- Okay. - Yeah, and it was

it was a stable job, and it paid well.

- Just from an economic standpoint, he was like,

"Yeah, you should try this."

- Yeah, and that's why I decided to got to the Fire Academy

because there's a lot of broke lawyers out there.

(Rob laughing)

I've never really seen a broke firefighter yet.

- Pro bono law work is not very profitable.

- And then the other thing is the age cut-off

for a firefighter in Chicago was 38.

When they invited me to come to the academy, I was 37.

So it was either take the job or never take it.

So I always knew I could go back to law school,

but if I didn't take the job, that was it.

- Oh, that's interesting.

- Yeah, I was like, "I gotta take it."

- It's do now or never do.

- Right, right.

And it was one of the best decisions I've ever made

in my life, man.

- Really?

- Yeah, I've saved lives, saved property.

- Of all the jobs, that one's probably

the most impactful and why?

- Because it's fulfilling.

It was fulfilling, I'm actually helping people, you know.

And when I'm long and gone, people can say,

"Hey, my granddad was a firefighter

"and he's running into fires when people are running out.

"And he's saving people."

I've won awards for bringing people back

from doing CPR on them.

So yeah, I've did a lotta good work in Chicago, bro.

- When you save somebody's life like that,

there's no amount of thanks.

- Right.

- There's like no word in the English language,

it's almost just like a feeling.

When you had those moments, what was the feeling

that you got as the person that got to help that person?

Because we can all kind of empathize with the person

whose life was saved, right?

Like, that would be amazing.

But you're experiencing that feeling from them

and then you have a feeling.

So what is that like?

- You know, I'm more so happy for the person

and their family because I helped give them more time

to create more memories with their family and their friends.

- Well said, man.

- And that's what I'm most concerned about.

You know, if I can help extend somebody's life,

and I hope one day if something happens to me,

somebody would do the same for me, you know,

but that is really fulfilling to see, to know like,

"Hey, I don't know how much longer they got,

"but they got some more time with their mom

"or their son, or something, somebody.

"Whoever they care about, they got more time with them."

- In my past life, I was a funeral director

and oftentimes, the area that people had the most difficulty

was when somebody gave up on trying to get more time

because it's like a slap in the face

that you no longer wanna be in this world with me.

But sometimes, people just get tired.

But it was always sometimes this conflict

that I would see sitting across the table from me.

And I had to help that person get through that.

Because at some point, yeah, you can try

to get somebody to help, extend their life,

but at some point, they've been just through the ringer.

And that's more with, you know, cancer

and all those other things.

But for you to be able to pull somebody away

from shortening their life too soon

because of just a quick accident and give them

that opportunity and then see that response?

- Right, yep.

- Talk about rewarding, like you said.

- Oh, yeah. - Best job.

- Oh, yeah, oh yeah.

- No doubt.

- Yeah, that's the best job in the world, bro.

- Amazing. - Mm-hm.

- So now cigar making is like, you know, that's like chill.

That's like, that's like a past time, like.

- Yeah, I'm providing entertainment.

- This is fun, yeah, right.

Now you're Cedric the Entertainer.

Here we go! - Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. - I love it.

So, with that being said at this point in your life,

do you like being that entertainer?

- Yeah, because I mean, you're providing enjoyment

for people, for however long they're smoking my cigar.

And then if I tell them, "Hey, this particular spirit goes

"very well with this cigar and it increases the experience,"

if I can help somebody relax.

Because that's also a form of prolonging

somebody's life, too, because some people are strung up

and stressed out and they don't know how to relax.

And they get a good cigar and a good dram of Scotch,

and they're just relaxing.

And whatever problems or garbage they were dealing with

it just goes away, you know, at least temporarily.

I'm glad I can provide that, too.

Because like I said, that helps to extend

somebody's life too, if you can help somebody relax.

- Yeah and just enjoy life.

Whether we're extending it or not,

but as long as while we go through life we're going

through it in the manner that we wanna enjoy it in,

that's key. - Oh, yeah.

- It really sucks not being happy

or feeling good, or feeling miserable.

So when you feel good about what you're doing

and how you're doing it, and if that means

smoking a cigar, more power to you, right?

- Oh, yeah. - Enjoy your life.

Live in the moment, right?

- Yep.

Yep, yep. - Sometimes we get

too worked up about what's coming in the future

when really we just need to stop, take a breath,

and look at it from a different angle,

and enjoy it in a different way.

- Indeed, indeed.

- I can't remember the name of the movie,

but there was a movie about a gentleman who was able

to re-live each day.

He was basically a time traveler.

He was able to re-live each day.

- Traveler's Wife?

Or the Traveler's Husband, something like that?

- Yeah, maybe.

I don't know, I can't remember it.

But it was like an English guy.

And his dad was able to do it.

And his dad said, "What I want you to do

"for a whole year is go through the day normal."

And then travel back in time and re-do the day.

But the next time you re-do the day, I want you

to stop at certain points where you felt stressful

or disheartened and look at it from a different viewpoint

of what's around you and what's

actually impacting your life.

So he would be running through the subway station

to try to get from one, he was a lawyer,

try to get from one court case to the next,

and he would stop all of a sudden and just take a look

at the grandness of the train station.

- Okay.

- Just that brief moment of looking

at what beauty, what natural beauty is

around you changed the way he lived his life.

And then his dad said after a while you won't have

to go back in time and re-live each day.

You'll start living each day that way.

- Mm-hm.

- It's a powerful paradigm

to change somebody's way of living.

- Yeah, I don't think I've seen that one.

- When you're going through your day-to-day, are you trying

to take moments where you're observing the natural beauty

of what's going on around you?

- Yeah, so in my house, I like to sit in the front room

because I get a lot of natural light coming in there.

And I like to just sit there and look outside.

And apparently, I have a couple of cardinals' nests

somewhere around my house.

So it's just red cardinals around and they come,

and they sometimes they sit right on my,

right in front of my front door, on the handrail,

and just sit there and sing, or whatever they're doing.

And I watch squirrels run around, that type of thing.

So yeah, I do that.

I wish I could sit in the house and smoke a cigar

but my wife won't let me.

- Yeah, I know.

- But yeah, I do sit and just watch things

and just decompress, that type of thing.

- Right.

Decompress.

- Mm-hm.

- Every once in a while when I get stressed out, I'm like,

I gotta remember to just, it's not all bad,

it's not all crazy.

- Right, right, right.

- Or when I'm driving, that's when it happens the most

when I'm like, trying to get somewhere quick.

And I'm like, "You'll get there when you get there."

- Right.

Yeah.

- So other than starting,

obviously, all the jobs that you've had

and then starting your own cigar line,

what do you think the next five to 10 years looks like

for Aric and Black Star Line?

Like, where do you wanna be in the next five years?

- Well, definitely for Black Star Line to be bigger.

We're looking to get more accounts, get more well-known.

Because a lot of people do know about us

but there's even more that have never even heard of me

or even know I exist.

So but platforms like this helps

to get the name out, you know.

So yeah, we're just looking

to get more accounts, grow bigger.

I wanna do more events, I wanna get out

and meet more people that enjoy my cigars.

And I want people to actually get to know me, as well.

Because everybody that knows me knows

I'm very approachable.

- Yeah. - And I love whiskey.

And I love cigars, so I got a lot in common

with the majority of the country.

- Yeah, what whiskey are you drinking today with your cigar?

- That's Michter's American Whiskey.

- Michter's American Whiskey.

Is it like a rye whiskey?

Is it a, what's like, do you know?

- I didn't look at the bottle.

My buddy, Cliff, picked it up.

I think it's just a straight whiskey.

It's not a rye, I know it's not a rye.

- Okay, what cigar are you smoking with it?

- I got my Corojo 99, it's El Milagro.

- And that goes well with it?

- This the first time I've had the two together.

And I actually haven't been paying attention

to it enough to see.

Like, they don't taste terrible together, but I really need

to sit down and like, kind of pay attention

to the notes in each one.

One's not overriding the other,

so that's a good start to the pairing.

But I gotta see if the notes actually match up.

The actual pairing for the cigar that I'm smoking is

Port Charlotte 10 by Bruichladdich, because it has a-

- That's what you would pair with that cigar?

- Yeah, that's my recommended pairing for this cigar.

- What is the name of it again?

- Port Charlotte 10.

It's make by Bruichladdich, it's a Scotch.

- Scotch.

- Yeah, so it's slightly peaty.

It's sort of the same level peaty-ness as a Lagavulin 16.

- Okay.

So the peat really plays on what in the cigar?

- The peat helps to bring out more

of the earth notes in this cigar.

Yeah, yeah, so. - Okay.

Now I'm smoking the Habano.

- Yeah, that's El Milagro Sun Grown Habano.

- And what would you pair with this?

- Now, the pairing for that one is

Bruichladdich Classic Laddie.

- Same company, - Right.

- But just a different blend.

- Yeah, so Bruichladdich is probably my favorite distillery

out of any Scotch company.

- Why?

- Like, their dram, they could do no wrong with me.

And I've had damn near all of them.

They're fantastic, bro.

- Nice. - Yeah.

- So that's kind of your coveted place to go

and get a good Scotch.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Do they make whiskey, too?

- No, just Scotch. - Just Scotch, okay.

Do you like other spirits with your cigars

or are you mainly just on the Scotch and whiskey side?

- I drink bourbon.

Not as much as Scotch, but I do drink bourbon.

I like Eagle Rare.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed is good.

- Okay.

- And then I'd be wrong if I didn't mention Boothy's Gin.

I love his gin, his gin actually pairs really well

with my Dark War Witch.

- That's Matt Booth.

- Yeah, yeah. - Room101

for those out there.

- Yeah, Room101 Gin, yep.

- So when he said he was doing gin

for a cigar pairing, I thought he was nuts

because I was like, how?

That's like, a lot of herbs mixed with a lot

of dried leaves which are technically herbs.

And it's just like a lot of banging heads together.

What is it about his that doesn't make it contrast?

- Well, I haven't had a lot of gin

because I just don't like it.

But it was, it's hard for me to describe.

It's different, it's got different notes in it

than compared to something like a Bombay or,

- Sure.

- What is it, Beefeater, I think it's called?

His gin can pair with my Dark War Witch it brings out...

See Dark War Witch has floral notes in it already.

So the gin-

- Floral notes? - Yeah, yeah.

- And the Dark War Witch? - Yeah.

- So it goes really well with a florally-

- Yeah, Boothy's gin, in particular, helps

to bring out the floral notes in my cigar even more.

They go really well together.

- That's awesome.

Do you have all of this on your website?

- Not the pairings, I need to put them up.

- I'm gonna challenge you to get that up

because I think our viewers would benefit from that.

- Yeah, yeah I need to put it up.

- A helpful guide to getting a good experience.

- Mm-hm, mm-hm.

- So, obviously not coming from a family of cigar makers

or anything like that, how did you build your palate

in order to be able to taste cigars better?

Did you have to work hard at it or was it something

that just always came to you naturally?

- Well, I'm the type of guy, when I like something,

I dive headfirst into it.

So when I started smoking cigars, I just really dug in.

But how I built my palate is

I never smoked the same thing.

Like, I don't even smoke my own cigars a whole lot

because I feel if you keep smoking the same stuff

over and over again, all you're doing is

you're trapping your palate.

- Really?

- Yeah, but when you're smoking different tobaccos

and different blends, you keep exercising your palate

and that's what keeps getting,

you're making you palate stronger

and you can taste more things.

And then also, you have to retrohale the cigars, too.

Because when you engage all your senses,

then you can really taste everything.

So I made sure I learned how to retrohale really good.

It was a lotta trial and error because sometimes

the smoke went down the wrong way and I paid for it.

But once I learned how to retrohale really good,

that's when I was like,

"Wow, you can really taste everything in that cigar."

And then like I said, in my personal collections

I could smoke three cigars a day for two weeks

and not smoke the same brand.

You know, because I guy a lot of cigars for myself.

Because I like to know what everybody's doing, you know.

- I like the constant trying new things.

- Yeah.

- But I'm also a fan of buying a whole box of a cigar

because I really like that cigar.

- I do that, too.

- Okay, so you're not saying hey,

you're just saying don't be pigeon-holed

into like, one thing.

Like, I only smoke Connecticuts and that's it.

Like, try everything, see what you like.

- Or you run into the guys that say,

"Oh, yeah, all I smoke is Cubans."

All right, so you missing out on a whole bunch

of different tobacco, and you really don't understand.

You know, your palate is just geared

towards just Cuban tobacco, where there's a bunch

of tobacco that you will enjoy,

but you're not giving it a try.

- Right.

And my biggest thing that helps me actually get flavor,

I'm not good at like, knowing what the flavor is.

Like, you know how people can like peg it,

like, "Oh, that's cinnamon, that's this, that's this"?

I'm more like, "I don't know but I like it."

- Yeah.

- But the thing that helps me get the right flavor,

well, one, humidity.

That's fine, that's on the table, that's what we do.

But controlling the temperature of the burn.

- Yeah.

- So long, slow draws

and then holding that smoke in my mouth

for about three seconds.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Because if you let it all out, none of the oils

and sugars stick to your palate.

So like, it looks weird, but I learned how

to smoke differently, so I could actually

enjoy the flavors that that cigar was delivering.

- Well, you learn how to slow down and smoke.

- Right.

- Because if you're smokin' too fast,

that's when the cigar gets really hot and it burns faster.

And then you're not getting the full experience

out of the cigar because you smoked it too fast.

So, mm-hm.

- Yeah, man.

This cigar is really tasty.

- Thank you. - It's got a sweet.

But more like on the honey side sweet

and kind of like with a little bit

of like either molasses or syrup.

- Yeah, that's why the Classic Laddie goes well with it

because Classic Laddie has a lot of fruit notes in there.

It's not peaty at all.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, it's a non-peaty Scotch.

- So good. - It has the fruit notes

in there, the caramel, and that type of thing

and it complements that type of cigar very well.

- Really well. - Mm-hm.

- Really well done.

- Thank you.

- And Aganorsa is making all your stuff.

- Yep. - So that's just phenomenal.

- And I am going back to El Titán.

I do have a blend through them.

I just haven't put it into production yet.

- You started at El Titán de Bronze,

which sources a lot of their tobacco from Aganorsa

so it's not very far from home.

But then you went to Aganorsa.

But overall, through the whole experience,

you're blending amazing cigars.

- Thank you.

- Is that coming from you or is that coming

from a lot of direction over at El Titán de Bronze?

- No, I gave directions.

All the directions are coming from me, so.

- How hard is it to figure out how

to put the whole thing together?

How long does it take you to make one,

like, one brand new blend?

Are you like, or is it like writing a song?

It's like, "Oh, that one took five minutes

"and that one and that one,

"that was a couple week project, man."

- Yeah.

I would say roughly about six months, maybe.

- Six minutes?

- Six months.

- Six months, oh.

When you said six minutes, I was like

we got a savant over here.

- Yeah, that would be amazing if I could do that.

- He's just pumping them out over here.

- Yeah, yeah.

Shit, I'd have a whole catalog worth of stuff

if it was six minutes. - So six months

to actually kinda get it.

- Yeah. - Are there any

of these projects, these blending projects,

like songs that you've just said,

"I can't deal with that anymore.

"I'm stuck, I'm at a plateau, I can't move it along

"and I'm gonna shelve that."

Or have you been able to get through all of your projects?

- Oh, no.

I've scrapped a bunch of samples.

- And I'm not just talking about scrapping samples,

but I'm talking about like, you're like,

"I want a bunch of Habano cigar, so I'm gonna do it."

Or is there every once in a while

where you're like, "I just can't figure out how

"to make this better, so I gotta table it."

- Yeah, that happens all the time.

- Really? - Yeah.

It happens all the time.

- When I hear that, I hear music to my ears

because that means there's more creativity

that you're gonna be able to get to do later on

that I'll get to enjoy.

- Yeah, yeah. - So it's actually

a good thing in my opinion.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I don't know if you see it that way

or if you kinda see it as like a waste of time.

- No, if I'm not getting the blend right

and I'm having other people smoking

and they're agreeing with me, then you know,

I'll just table it and keep thinking about it like,

"Well, maybe I'll change the binder,

"and maybe I'll take a little ligero out."

Maybe the ligero the power is overpowering the notes

of the other leaves in there.

- Do you have a mentor that you're asking those questions to

like, if you get stuck, are you like,

"Hey, man, I'm getting stuck here.

"What do I need to do?"

- Sean Williams.

- John Williams? - Yeah, yeah.

Sean Williams. - Sean Williams?

- Yeah, Sean Williams from COHIBA.

- So if you're stuck, you're like,

that's the first person you call?

- One of them, yeah.

I talk to Terence too.

Terence knows his tobacco.

He also knows khakis, too.

(Rob laughing) - Yeah.

He's Jake from State Farm.

(Aric chuckles) - Right, right.

- When I ask somebody who's the biggest partier

in the business, and they said Terence Reilly,

I said, "You gotta be kidding me,"

because that guys doesn't look like he can party hard.

He wears a Polo and Dockers every day.

- We ran into each other in Denver

and we were hanging out at Eric and Jordan's house,

the Cigar Dojo guys.

And yeah, I didn't know he could put back

as much whiskey as he did. (Rob laughing)

We were throwing back whiskey all night.

- He's got an empty leg.

- Yeah.

- You just keep-

- You know he's a skinny guy

so all the liquor goes to his feet.

(Rob laughing) - Yeah, right.

He's very tall.

- Yeah. - And you're a tall guy.

- Yeah, six feet. - Yeah.

I prefer six, you know, 5-12,

prefer that terminology, but you know, whatever.

(Aric laughing)

Other than what you got going on,

are there some projects that you can kinda leak right now?

Not necessarily what they are,

but that you're working on them?

And how they're inspiring you?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm working with a blend that I'm utilizing

a Corojo 2012 wrapper, so.

- Is that something new?

On the market?

Like, not a lotta people working with Corojo 2012?

- Yeah, that's a leaf from Aganorsa Leaf

and they are starting to put in more in production

because they were using Corojo 99.

So the current Corojos I have are Corojo 99.

- When we say this, we say the seed varietal

that they're using. - Mm-hm.

- So just for people out there, it's not that the tobacco

comes from 1999, it's the varietal.

- Right.

- It's the varietal.

So what Aganorsa is doing is they're playing

with the seeds to create new seed varietals

that will do new, different flavors possibly,

or enhance certain flavors.

And what particular on this varietal, Corojo 20,

what is it?

- 2012.

- 2012, what particular flavor are you liking

outta this that you really,

that's like, really inspiring the blend?

- It's got a nutty taste to it.

It's creamy, you know.

So, I've only smoked one of the samples,

so I haven't dug into it as much as I'd like

because I was too busy getting ready for this show.

- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And then when I smoked it, I kind of

wasn't wholeheartedly paying attention to it.

I'm actually, if I like it and I feel

like I could sell it, I'm gonna give it to a certain...

It's gonna be a special release for a certain entity.

- Oh, so you already have a plan for when it's launched.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- So it's not gonna be a core line.

- No, this one's probably gonna be a special release.

- And is that just based off of personal decisions

or is that based off of like, inventory, like quantity?

- No, this particular company reached out to me and they,

because I already do business with them.

And they asked me did I wanna do

a core branded cigar with them.

And I was like, "Do pigs love mud?"

- Yeah, right.

Of course.

- Yeah, so I was like, "Oh, yeah."

And I was like, ironically, I actually have a sample

coming in on Friday, so I can give you a couple of samples

to check out while I'm at PCA.

And then I'll get back and I'll check them out

and see exactly, you know, more in-depth about the blend.

And then, you know, we'll go from there.

- Yeah, that's awesome.

Because you also did Privada's Black History Month Cigar.

- Yeah, last year.

- Yeah. - Mm-hm.

- That was a phenomenal cigar.

- Yeah, it was a good stick.

- How did you feel when Brian came to you to do that?

How did you feel about that?

Because that, no one else has done that in the industry.

What did that make, what kind of feelings

were you getting from that?

- I was flattered.

Yeah, extremely flattered.

You know, he likes my blends and he was just like,

"Hey, man, I think it'll be a good idea."

And then when he, and Dean came in, too,

so it was great to work with him because, you know,

I know Dean, but I don't know him that well.

- Yeah, Dean from Epic. - Yeah, Dean from Epic.

- You two worked together to make that.

- Yeah, so it was great, man.

- How is it blending with somebody

that you've never worked with before?

- It's different because, you know, Dean from,

and I don't know his whole lineup,

but I think he mostly deals with Dominican tobacco.

- Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And I really don't.

- Because all your stuff is made in Nicaragua.

- Right, right.

I really don't care for a lot of Dominicans,

but it just depends on the blend.

So I don't smoke them a whole lot.

I'm mostly, majority of the time Nicaraguan tobacco.

And then some Costa Rican stuff,

like stuff from Casdagli and stuff like that.

And I'll smoke Dominican stuff every once in a while.

I think Paul Garmirian was the last,

Symphony 20 was the last really good Dominican I had.

So, I mean, it was cool working

with him just to pick his brain,

because he's been around way longer than me.

So, I actually didn't wanna try to be in the forefront of it

because I was like, I wanna learn too, you know.

So I had my input, but I just wanted to make sure

that I learned something, even those different type

of tobacco that he deals with.

And we was comparing notes and that type of thing.

- Was there one, specific thing that you learned

from Dean during the whole process

that you took away from you to take on?

- What did he tell me?

Well, he was basically like, "Don't give up on a blend."

If it's not right the first time, you know,

just keep working with it.

It may take some aging to get the actual flavors

out of there, or like I said, it may just be changing

some aspect of the cigar to make it how I want it.

So that's the main takeaway I would take from it.

And basically what he's saying is be persistent.

And don't just scrap a blend just

because you don't like it the first time.

- Do you feel like you were doing that more often

before you started working with him?

- Yeah, I would be quick to scrap one.

- Really? - Yeah, like,

if I try twice and it doesn't work,

I'm like, "Ah, let's change it."

- Because some guys, they're like, they'll do 60 versions.

That's not you.

- No, I'm quick to change.

I'm quick to change.

- So he was trying to get you to stay with it.

- Yeah, mm-hm.

It's good advice.

- That's good advice, man.

- Mm-hm.

- I like that. - Yeah.

- So you're kinda growing in that.

Like, I've gotta stretch this muscle

that I don't always use, I like that.

Very good.

For the people out there, if I'm new to your brand,

what is my lineup for my morning, noon,

and night cigar from your line?

- Morning, I would either smoke the Sun Grown Habano

or the Connecticut War Witch.

Noon, maybe the Dark War Witch or the Corojo El Milagro.

And nighttime's Lalibela.

That's a heavy smoke.

- Lalibela?

- Yeah, Lalibela. - That we have sitting

on the table here?

- Yeah, Lalibela's a heavy smoke.

You gotta get a good meal in and then smoke that one.

Otherwise,- - Rich?

- Yeah, it's gonna punish you with that.

- And what spirit are you pairing with that?

- That one's Larceny Small Batch.

- Larceny's Small Batch?

- Yes, mm-hm.

- And what is that, Scotch?

- No, it's bourbon. - It's bourbon?

- Yeah, it's a bourbon.

- We're goin' off the Scotch train

and hoppin' onto the bourbon train.

- Oh yeah, yeah. - And why?

Tell me why I'm pairing this stuff with this bourbon.

- Well, the caramel notes in Larceny brings out a lot

of the, it brings out the sweetness

of the San Andres wrapper.

Because that's the San Andres wrapper

with a Nicaraguan binder and filler.

- Nice. - And they just complement

each other very well.

- Good complement, all right.

- Because the Larceny is about 94-proof.

So it's not super strong, but it's got some strength to it.

And then Lalibela's got some good ligero in there

so it's got some strength to it.

- Good.

- If you wanna be real adventurous, you can smoke Lalibela

and drink White Dog with it.

And you might go to bed after that one, but, you know-

- What's White Dog?

- White Dog is Buffalo Trace.

And it's 127-proof, maybe.

It's a high-proof whiskey.

So, it doesn't, in my opinion, it doesn't have a lot

of notes as far as the liquor is, it's just strong.

- Oh. - You know,

so if you're trying to get high,

(Rob laughing)

you drink that with Lalibela.

- And then you're going to bed?

- Yeah, oh yeah, it'll put you down.

Yeah. - Love it.

Aric, I really appreciate you takin' the time today.

- Thank you for having me.

- I'm so excited to see the new stuff

that you got coming out.

And just in general, enjoying the stuff

that you have already made.

Because it's a great lineup.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you for having me.

- Thank you all for joining us

for another episode of Box Press, that's a wrap.

Enjoy more cigars and keep them

always protected with Boveda.

Have a good one.